The Propositions
that are proved
in this Discourse.
Proposition 1.
That the strangenesse of this opinion is no sufficient reason why it should be rejected, because other certaine truths have beene formerly esteemed ridiculous, and great absurdities entertayned by common consent.
By way of Preface. Prop. 2.
That a plurality of worlds doth not contradict any principle of reason or faith.
Prop. 3.
That the heavens doe not consist of any such pure matter which can priviledge them from the like change and corruption, as these inferiour bodies are liable unto.
Prop. 4.
That the Moone is a solid, compacted opacous body.
Prop. 5.
That the Moone hath not any light of her owne.
Prop. 6.
That there is a world in the Moone, hath beene the direct opinion of many ancient, with some moderne Mathematicians, and may probably be deduced from the tenents of others.
Prop. 7.
That those spots and brighter parts which by our sight may be distinguished in the Moone, doe shew the difference betwixt the Sea and Land in that other world.
Prop. 8.
That the spots represent the Sea, and the brighter parts the Land.
Prop. 9.
That there are high Mountaines, deepe vallies, and spacious plaines in the body of the Moone.
Prop. 10.
That there is an Atmo-sphæra, or an orbe of grosse vaporous aire, immediately encompassing the body of the Moone.
Prop. 11.
That as their world is our Moone, so our world is their Moone.
Prop. 12.
That tis probable there may bee such Meteors belonging to that world in the Moone, as there are with us.
Prop. 13.
That tis probable there may be inhabitants in this other World, but of what kinde they are is uncertaine.
Finis.
Technical Notes and Further Information
Spelling and punctuation are as in the original, including the consistently “modern” use of V and U. Italic capital V has two forms, used interchangeably. Since italic capital U does not occur, the rounded form has been transcribed as U.
The element -que in Latin passages was almost always printed with a ligature resembling “q3”:
Translations of Latin and Greek passages were usually printed with marginal quotation marks. These passages have been shown as block quotes (indented) with quotation marks.
The incorrect pagination on pages 177-192 (printed as 175-190) is all one error: The eight pages printed on one side of the sheet forming signature N— 177, 180, 181, 184, 185, 188, 189, 192— were misnumbered by -2.
Works and Authors Cited in Sidenotes:
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. A few sources could not be identified; others are so well-known, they did not need to be marked.
The following spellings and name forms are used consistently:
Austin = Augustine
Blancanus the Jesuit(e) = Josephus Blancanus, Giuseppe Biancani
Caelius = Lodovicus Caelius Rhodiginus
Tycho = Tycho Brahe
Nicholas Hill “a country man of ours”. Hill the early atomist, not Hill (Montanus, van de Bergh) the printer.
Keplar = Kepler (Johannes)
Julius Caesar = Cæsar la Galla, Giulio Cesare La Galla, Lagalla
Mæslin = Maestlin (Michael)
Rawleigh, Rawly = Raleigh (Sir Walter)
Verulam = Francis Bacon (1st Baron Verulam)
Note also “sydera” for “sidera”.
Albertus Magnus: De quattuor coaequaevis
—: De caelo et mundo
Aristotle: De Caelo
Bede: De ratione temporum
Christopher Besoldus: De Natura Populorum ejusque variatione, et de Linguarum ortu atque immutatione (1632)
Josephus Blancanus (Giuseppe Biancani): Sphaera mundi (Full Title: Sphaera Mundi seu Cosmographia. Demonstrativa, ac facili Methodo tradita: In qua totius Mundi fabrica, una cum novis, Tychonis, Kepleri, Galilaei, aliorumque; Astronomorum adinventis continetur)
—: Aristotelis loca mathematica ex universes ipsius operibus collecta et explicata
Tycho (Brahe): Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata
Th. (Tommaso) Campanella: Apologia pro Galileo (1622)
Collegium Conimbricenses (Jesuits of Coimbra University): Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis Jesu in quattuor libros physicorum Aristotelis de Coelo (1592)
Cardinal de Cusa, Cusanus (Nicholas of Cusa/Kues, Nicolaus Cryffts): De Docta Ignorantia
Johannes Fabricius: De Maculis in Sole Observatis, et Apparente earum cum Sole Conversione Narratio (1611)
Text not identified by name.
Libertus Fromondus (Libert Froidmont): Meteorologicorum libri sex (1627)
Galileo: Nuncius Sidereus
Camillus Gloriosus (Giovanni Camillo Glorioso): De Cometis dissertatio astronomico-physica (1624)
Isidore: Originum
Johannes Kepler: Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo
The name “Galileo” (or “Galilei”) is sometimes included in the title, as “Diss. cum Nunc. Syd. Galil.”
—: Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae
—: Astronomiae Pars Optica
Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare La Galla): De Phenomenis in Orbe Lunae (1612)
Leonard Lessius: De perfectionibus moribusque divinis (1620)
This work is often cited as “De Moribus”; other early mentions are found in Tristram Shandy and The Anatomy of Melancholy.
Mæslin (Michael Maestlin): Epitome Astronomiae (1610)
Carolus Malapertus, Malapertius (Charles Malapert): Austriaca sidera heliocyclia astronomicis hypothesibus illigata (1633)
Jacobus Mazonius (Jacopo Mazzoni): In universam Platonis et Aristotelis philosophiam praeludia sive de Comparatione Platonis et Aristotelis
Johannes Eusebius (Juan Eusebio) Nieremberg: Historia Naturae (1635)
Augustinus Nifus (Niphus, Agostino Nifo)
Quoted text not identified by name.
Benedictus Pererius (Benito Pereira): Commentariorum et disputationum in Genesim tomi quattuor (1591-99)
Plutarch: De facie in orbe lunae
—: De tranquillitate animi
Erasmus Reinhold: Commentary (1542, 1553) on Georg Purbach’s Theoricae novae planetarum
Caelius = Lodovicus Caelius Rhodiginus (Lodovico / Luigi Ricchieri): Lectionum antiquarum libri triginta
Ruvio (Antonio Rubio): Commentary on Aristotle’s De Caelo
(Julius Caesar) Scaliger: Exotericae exercitationes ad Hieronymum Cardanum
Christoph Scheiner: Rosa Ursina sive Sol ex Admirando Facularum & Macularum suarum Phoenomeno varius
Tostatus (Alonso Tostado): In Genesis
Transcriber’s Footnotes
1. There are a few illegible points in the Greek text (Herodotus IV.36.2):
Γελῶ δὲ ὁρῶν γῆς περιόδος γράψαντας, πολλοὺς ἤδη καὶ οὐδένα νόον ἔχοντας ἐξηγησάμενον ὃι Ὠκεανόν τε ῥεόντα γράφουσι πέριξ τήν τε γὴν ἐοῦσαν κυκλοτερέα ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου.
Gelô de horôn gês periodous grapsantas pollous êdê kai oudena noon echontas exêgêsamenon hoi Ôkeanon te rheonta graphousi perix tên te gên eousan kukloterea hôs apo tornou.
πολλοὺς: text reads “πελλοὺς”.
ἔχοντας: last vowel unclear; may be ου (ou) ligature.
2. Sidenote unclear:
sidenote text
3. Sidenote unclear:
sidenote text
4. Reading doubtful; may be intended for “Enius” (modern Aenus?).
5.
Now the aggregate of the quadrate from A B a hundred, and B G a 1000 will bee 1010000, unto which the quadrate arising from A G must be equall according to the 47th proposition in the first booke of elements. Therefore the whole line A G is somewhat more than 104, and the distance betwixt H A must be above 4 miles, which was the thing to be proved.
That is: given that AB = 100 and BG = 1000, 1002 + 10002 = 1,010,000. By the Pythagorean Theorem (“the 47th proposition”), AG = √1010000. 104 is presumably an error for 1004; the actual figure is almost 1005.
6.
Cælius (Sidenote) Progym. 1.
the noble Tycho (Sidenote) l. 20. c. 5.
These two sidenotes may be reversed: one of Tycho Brahe’s works is called Progymnasmata.
7. The first paragraph on this page is very unclear. The page image is shown in full because in other respects this is a typical page. If there were sidenotes, they would be printed in the wide margin, outside the line.
image of page 160
8.
the words of Fienus, as they are quoted by Fromondus in the above cited place, Possunt maximæ permutationes in cœlo fieri
The text as printed reads:
in the above cited place) Possunt maximæ
The passage could also be punctuated as:
the words of Fienus (as they are quoted by Fromondus in the above cited place) Possunt maximæ permutationes in cœlo fieri
9. The sidenote is printed alongside the Mæslin quotation, but the text named in the sidenote is by Kepler.